Increased T levels and hair loss

Recent I have started experiencing thinning in my hair, and have noticed that my hair growth overall has slowed significantly in the last 5 months.

For the last year and a half I have been making lifestyle changes in an effort to optimize my testosterone levels (for sexual and physical reasons). These changes are simply switching to organic foods, minimizing estrogen intake, supplementing Maca, and strength training. Now approaching 30, I am confident that my thinning hair is an age related issue.

My question is, will my pursuit of optimal testosterone levels have an impact on the rate of hair loss I am experiencing? Many of the hair loss forums indicate that it would, however I have read that there is little correlation between increased T levels and DHT levels (see here http://www.tota lityofbeing.com … n_lose_hair.htm ).

I am wanting to take a ZMA supplement to aid my strength training, but am hesitant while this question lingers in my mind.

What was your fathers experience with hair loss? Did he have a similar loss starting in his 30ties? If so, it might just all be in your genes. After all, you are not actually taking any hormone treatments, everything is natural.

What brand of Maca are you supplementing? Is it powder or extract?

Apparently hair loss is linked to the receptors in your head that react differently to the DHT present and end up killing your hair follicles. Tablets like fincar stop or reduce the conversion of DHT and should hence slow down or maybe even stop hair loss. I have been taking it for about 3 months now and don’t think I have seen much change- maybe a slow down in hair loss wen i wash it but I cut it every 2 weeks quite short so its hard to tell what is hairloss and what is cut hair just washing out. I think I might stay on it for another 3 months and see what happens but lately I have noticed slightly puffy nipples- Im honestly not sure if theyve always been like that or not- and I’ve heard that this is a side effect of increased estrogen which I guess is what happens when you take these pills. It has concerned me somewhat because I am still in my early 20’s and maybe Im too young to be messing with my hormones bt I really reeeeeeally don’t want to go bald this young! Im training at the gym so Im hopeing that the increase from test in the gym will go to my muscles and kind of balance out the increase in estrogen but we shall see…

Short of steroids very few things will actually increase your resting testosterone levels, including weight training (note: while it causes spikes in testosterone for very short periods post workout, there’s generally no noticeable increase in resting levels as far as I can tell from the medical literature).

And ZMA is a waste of money testosterone-wise, or for anything else really. At least a half dozen studies have shown that additional zinc/magnesium have no effect if you’re not deficient, and if you’re deficient you can get the ingredients separately for a quarter of the price.

If you’re really that worried, see a doctor and get a hormone test. It’ll tell you if there’s a hormonal cause.

I would venture that you might want to explain what you were like 18 months ago before you started all this. Specifically what lead you to subscribe to this “lifestyle change”. Any symptoms?

My father has a fine head of hair, with no sign of loss. He is in his 60’s! My mother, however, had thinning hair (no bald patches, just an overall thinning). It isn’t chronic, but I know that she has it. Her father had a slightly receding hairline.

I am taking a raw organic Maca powder, produced by a company called “essential living foods”. I am currently in Europe so they may not be present in the US. I take about 2 tablespoons per day.

18 months ago I felt I was thinning, but at a slower rate. At the time I was living in Australia, rather than Europe where I have recently moved.

Reading and over-analysis, most likely :) In an effort to put on weight, and maximize my sex drive I looked to improving my T-levels. I was experiencing a fluctuating libido at the time.

After reading into the subject, it seemed like a good idea. I took a break from the routine after moving to a different country. This break was about 6 months, leading me up to the present day (that is, I started the unintentional break 6 months ago).

I am currently hunting for a doctor to perform a blood test to see if there is anything out of whack with my hormone profile.

I only asked, figuring you might have been “run down” and assumed it to be solely a Testosterone issue. One could ascribe many symptoms of testosterone for thyroid issues and vice versa. The thing that peaked my interest was the thinning or stunted hair.

This is correct.

It sounds like you simply have male pattern baldness, if you aren’t experiencing other health problems. You could try a topical solution (minoxidil) or a pill (finasteride) if you want to try to slow or stop the balding.

Yes, my concern is the rate the shedding and hair growth slow down has increased in the last 6 months. I will pursue blood tests to determine whether there are hormonal imbalances. I’m not sure if it’s relevant, but I have a particularly fast metabolism, and find it difficult to gain weight.

I’m a little wary of finasteride. I appreciate that the negative side affects only affect a small percentage of users, but alarm bells are still ringing in my head. Minoxidil may be a good compromise.

Sorry TT I was referring to myself in this statement (I am an over-analyzer!). Just ensuring it didn’t get taken the wrong way:)

I can understand that. If I begin to experience male pattern baldness in the future, I’ll probably try minoxidil before screwing with my hormones with finasteride.

I lost a load of hair on the top of my head after some bad antidepressant withdrawal. Minoxidil fixed that right up within ~3 months and only cost me about 8 bucks a month for my supply. I don’t know how well that’d work with the temple region, but on the vertex it seems to work great.

Bear in mind finasteride and all DHT blockers seem to reduce the body’s anabolic environment, though nobody’s entirely sure where DHT fits into the process of building muscle. What’s noticeable is that when bodybuilders who use steroids block the conversion of Testosterone to Dihydrotestosterone via 5-alpha-reductase using something like finasteride they see a big drop in the efficiency of their chemical stack.

It’s worth figuring out exactly what could be causing the hair loss first though, I’m sure there are other environmental/non-hormonal causes that it’s worth ruling out.